Data fusion system for a vehicle equipped with unsynchronized perception sensors

ABSTRACT

A sensor data fusion system for a vehicle with multiple sensors includes a first-sensor, a second-sensor, and a controller-circuit. The first-sensor is configured to output a first-frame of data and a subsequent-frame of data indicative of objects present in a first-field-of-view. The first-frame is characterized by a first-time-stamp, the subsequent-frame of data characterized by a subsequent-time-stamp different from the first-time-stamp. The second-sensor is configured to output a second-frame of data indicative of objects present in a second-field-of-view that overlaps the first-field-of-view. The second-frame is characterized by a second-time-stamp temporally located between the first-time-stamp and the subsequent-time-stamp. The controller-circuit is configured to synthesize an interpolated-frame from the first-frame and the subsequent-frame. The interpolated-frame is characterized by an interpolated-time-stamp that corresponds to the second-time-stamp. The controller-circuit fuses the interpolated-frame with the second-frame to provide a fused-frame of data characterized by the interpolated-time-stamp, and operates the host-vehicle in accordance with the fused-frame.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

This disclosure generally relates to a sensor data fusion system for avehicle with multiple sensors, and more particularly relates to a systemthat synthesizes an interpolated-frame from a first-frame and asubsequent-frame of data from a first sensor, where theinterpolated-frame is characterized by an interpolated-time-stamp thatcorresponds to a second-time-stamp of a second-frame of data from asecond-sensor.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

It is known to equip a vehicle with multiple different sensors that arebased on different technologies, e.g. camera, radar, and/or lidar. Thesedifferent sensors may operate independently so that the frames of data(e.g. images from the camera, radar-maps from the radar, point-cloudsfrom the lidar) may not be temporally synchronized, i.e. the frames maybe rendered or captured at different instants in time. The fusing of theunsynchronized frames to form, for example, a three-dimensional (3D)model of the environment around the vehicle may introduce unacceptableerrors in the 3D model.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described, by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a sensor data fusion system in accordance withone embodiment;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are images captured by the system of FIG. 1 inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2C is an image synthesized by the system of FIG. 1 from FIGS. 2Aand 2B;

FIG. 3A is an image synthesized by the system of FIG. 1 in accordancewith one embodiment;

FIG. 3B is cloud-point from a lidar of the system of FIG. 1 inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 3C is a three-dimensional model formed by fusing the image of FIG.3A with the cloud-point of FIG. 3B by the system of FIG. 1 in accordancewith one embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a method of operating the system of FIG. 1 in accordance withone embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various described embodiments. However,it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the variousdescribed embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components,circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not tounnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

‘One or more’ includes a function being performed by one element, afunction being performed by more than one element, e.g., in adistributed fashion, several functions being performed by one element,several functions being performed by several elements, or anycombination of the above.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.are, in some instances, used herein to describe various elements, theseelements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only usedto distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contactcould be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact couldbe termed a first contact, without departing from the scope of thevarious described embodiments. The first contact and the second contactare both contacts, but they are not the same contact.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedembodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in thedescription of the various described embodiments and the appendedclaims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as usedherein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. It will be furtherunderstood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or“comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” is, optionally, construed to mean “when”or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,”depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or“if [a stated condition or event] is detected” is, optionally, construedto mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upondetecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting[the stated condition or event],” depending on the context.

FIG. 1 illustrates a non-limiting example of a sensor data fusion system10, here after often referred to as the system 10, which is intended forus by an automated vehicle, e.g. a host-vehicle 12, that is equippedwith multiple sensors. In general, a key function of the system 10 isthe synthesizing and fusion of sensor data from multiple sensors byinterpolating data to a particular instant in time. The host-vehicle 12may be characterized as an automated vehicle. As used herein, the termautomated vehicle may apply to instances when the host-vehicle 12 isbeing operated in an automated-mode 14, i.e. a fully autonomous mode,where a human-operator (not shown) of the host-vehicle 12 may do littlemore than designate a destination to operate the host-vehicle 12.However, full automation is not a requirement. It is contemplated thatthe teachings presented herein are useful when the host-vehicle 12 isoperated in a manual-mode 16 where the degree or level of automation maybe little more than providing an audible and/or visual warning to thehuman-operator who is generally in control of the steering, accelerator,and brakes of the host-vehicle 12. For example, the system 10 may merelyassist the human-operator as needed to change lanes and/or avoidinterference with and/or a collision with, for example, an object suchas another-vehicle, a pedestrian, or a road sign.

The system 10 includes a first-sensor 20, for example, e.g. a camera, aradar-unit or a lidar-unit, that is mounted on the host-vehicle 12. Thefirst-sensor 20 is configured to output a first-frame 22 of data and asubsequent-frame 26 of data indicative of objects 18 present in afirst-field-of-view 36. As used herein, the phrase “frame of data” isused to refer to an image from a camera, a radar-map from a radar-unit,or a point-cloud from a lidar-unit associated with some specific instantin time. The first-frame 22 is characterized by a first-time-stamp 24(T1 in FIG. 2A), and the subsequent-frame 26 of data characterized by asubsequent-time-stamp 28 (Ts in FIG. 2B) that is different from thefirst-time-stamp 24. For this discussion, it will be assumed that thefirst-time-stamp 24 is indicative of an instant in time that is earlierthan or before the instant in time indicated by thesubsequent-time-stamp 28. By way of example and not limitation, if thefirst-sensor 20 is a camera, and the camera is capturing images a rateof ten frames per second (10 fps), then the subsequent-time-stamp 28would be indicative of an instant in time that was 1/10 of a second (0.1seconds) after the first-time-stamp 24. For example, if thefirst-time-stamp 24 is arbitrarily set to zero (0), then thesubsequent-time-stamp 28 would be equal to 0.1 seconds.

The system 10 also includes a second-sensor 30, e.g. a camera, aradar-unit or a lidar-unit, that is mounted on the host-vehicle 12. Thesecond-sensor 30 is configured to output a second-frame 32 of dataindicative of objects 18 present in a second-field-of-view 38 thatoverlaps (partially or fully, covering an area larger than or smallerthan) the first-field-of-view 36. For example, both the first-sensor 20and the second-sensor 30 may view an area forward of the host-vehicle,but the first-field-of-view 36 may be wider or narrower than thesecond-field-of-view 38. However, both the first-sensor 20 and thesecond-sensor 30 detect instances of the objects 18 that are in thetravel-path of the host-vehicle 12. That is, one of the sensors maydetect more or fewer objects than the other because of a difference inthe respective fields-of-view, but both sensors have sufficientfields-of-view to detect instances of the objects 18 with which thehost-vehicle 12 could collide.

The second-frame 32 is characterized by a second-time-stamp 34 (T2 inFIG. 3B) that is temporally located between the first-time-stamp 24 andthe subsequent-time-stamp 28. Because different sensing technologies(e.g. camera, radar, lidar) typically have different frame-rates, thefirst-sensor 20 and the second-sensor may not be synchronized. That is,the first-sensor 20 may be based on a first-sensing-technology (e.g.camera with an image-detector), and the second-sensor 30 is based on asecond-sensing-technology (e.g. lidar using a scanning laser rangefinder) that is different from the first-sensing-technology.

For example, the second-time-stamp 34 may correspond to an instant intime that is after the first-time-stamp 24 and before thesubsequent-time-stamp 28. As a specific non-limiting example, if thefirst-time-stamp 24 is zero (0) and the subsequent-time-stamp 28 is 0.1seconds as suggested above for the first-sensor 20 being a camera, thesecond-sensor 30 may be a lidar-unit and the second-time-stamp 34 may be0.04 seconds. As will be explained in more detail below, the system 10described herein provides a way for data from the first-sensor 20 andthe second-sensor 30 to be effectively synchronized so that data fromdifferent sensing technologies can be readily fused, i.e. combined usingany of a variety of known data fusion techniques so that, for example, athree-dimensional (3D) model of the objects 18 can be rendered.

The system 10 also includes a controller-circuit 40 in communicationwith the first-sensor 20 and the second-sensor 30. The communication maybe by way of, for example, wires, optical cable, or wirelesscommunication as will be recognized by those in the electronics arts.The controller-circuit 40, hereafter sometimes referred to as thecontroller 40, may include one or more instances of a processor 42 suchas one or more instances of a microprocessor or other control circuitrysuch as analog and/or digital control circuitry including an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) for processing data as should beevident to those in the art. While the system 10 described herein isgenerally described in terms of having a single instance of thecontroller 40, it is recognized that the functions of the controller 40may be shared or distributed among several instances of controllers thatare each configured for some specific task. Hereafter, any reference tothe controller 40 being configured for something is to also beinterpreted as suggesting that the processor 42 may alternatively beconfigured for the same thing. The controller 40 may include memory 44,i.e. non-transitory computer-readable storage-medium, includingnon-volatile memory, such as electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM) for storing one or more routines, thresholds,and captured data. The memory 44 may be part of the processor 42, orpart of the controller 40, or separate from the controller 40 such asremote memory stored in the cloud, e.g. the cloud memory 46. The one ormore routines may be executed by the controller 40 or the processor 42to perform steps for processing the first-frame 22, the subsequent-frame26 and the second-frame 32 as described herein.

As introduced above, the first-frame 22 is characterized by afirst-time-stamp 24 (T1 in FIG. 2A), the subsequent-frame 26 of datacharacterized by a subsequent-time-stamp 28 (Ts in FIG. 2B) that istemporally after the first-time-stamp 24, and the second-frame 32 ischaracterized by a second-time-stamp 34 (T2 in FIG. 3B) that istemporally located between the first-time-stamp 24 and thesubsequent-time-stamp 28. To perform data fusion of data from thefirst-sensor 20, e.g. images from a camera, with data from thesecond-sensor, e.g. a cloud-point from a lidar-unit, the data ispreferable temporally synchronized so that the image and cloud-pointthat are fused are from the same (as close as possible) instant in time.If it is not possible to synchronize the hardware, i.e. synchronize thefirst-sensor 20 and the second-sensor 30, then the system 10 describedherein is able to overcome that lack of synchronization as describedbelow.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are non-limiting examples of, respectively, thefirst-frame 22 rendered at time T1 (the first-time-stamp 24) and thesubsequent-frame 26 rendered at time Ts (the subsequent-time-stamp 28),both of which are images from a camera that in this example is thefirst-sensor 20. FIG. 3B is a non-limiting example of the second-frame32 rendered at time T2 (the second-time-stamp 34), which is apoint-cloud from a lidar-unit that in this example is the second-sensor30. First, the system 10 needs an image that is (temporally)synchronized with the point-cloud from the lidar. Motion-flow-analysisor other known image processing techniques can be used to synthesize aninterpolated-frame 52 (FIG. 2C) that has an interpolated-time-stamp 54that corresponds to, i.e. is essentially equal to, the second-time-stamp34 of the second-frame 32 (FIG. 3B).

Accordingly, the controller-circuit 40 (or the processor 42) isconfigured to synthesize the interpolated-frame 52 from the first-frame22 and the subsequent-frame 26. The interpolated-frame 52 characterizedby the interpolated-time-stamp 54 that corresponds to thesecond-time-stamp 34. I.e., the interpolated-time-stamp 54 and thesecond-time-stamp 34 are essentially or approximately or exactly equalso that image of the interpolated-frame 52 is temporally synchronizedwith the point-cloud of the second-frame 32. While the example givenhere is for interpolating images to synthesize the interpolated-frame52, it is recognized that motion-flow-analysis and other know radar-mapand point-cloud processing techniques can be used to synthesize theinterpolated-frame 52 when the first-sensor 20 is a radar-unit or alidar-unit rather than a camera.

It is contemplated that in some instances the difference in time betweenthe first-time-stamp 24 and the second-time-stamp 34 or the differencein time between the subsequent-time-stamp 28 and the second-time-stamp34 is so small that there is no substantive advantage to performing aninterpolation of the first-frame 22 and the subsequent-frame 26. Forexample, if the first-time-stamp 24 is very close to thesecond-time-stamp 34, e.g. the difference is less than five milliseconds(5 ms), the interpolated-frame 52 may simply be made the same as thefirst-frame 22 to avoid wasting computation time by the controller 40 orthe processor 42. Accordingly, the controller-circuit 40 (or theprocessor 42) may be configured to synthesize the interpolated-frame 52only in response to a determination that both the first-time-stamp 24and the subsequent-time-stamp 28 differ from the second-time-stamp 34 bygreater than a time-threshold 58, e.g. five milliseconds (5 ms).

FIG. 3A in this example is the same image or illustration as FIG. 2C.However, it is contemplated that FIG. 3A could be a cropped version ofFIG. 2C if the first-field-of-view 36 of the first-sensor 20 is greater(e.g. wider) than the second-field-of-view 38 of the second-sensor 30.Contrarywise, FIG. 3B could be a cropped version of what is provided bythe second-sensor 30 if first-field-of-view 36 is smaller (e.g.narrower) than the second-field-of-view 38.

FIG. 3C is an illustration of a three-dimensional (3D) model that is theresult of fusing the image in FIG. 3A with the point-cloud in FIG. 3B.The details of how an image can be fused with a point-cloud to providessome alternative form of information, e.g. a 3D model, are described innumerous technical papers and books related to the subject of sensordata fusion.

Accordingly, the controller-circuit 40 (or the processor 42) is furtherconfigured to fuse the interpolated-frame 52 with the second-frame 32 toprovide a fused-frame 56 of data characterized by theinterpolated-time-stamp 54. That is, the instant in time represented bythe fused-frame 56 shown in FIG. 3C corresponds to theinterpolated-time-stamp 54 which is equal to or approximately equal tothe second-time-stamp 34.

The controller 40 is further configured to operate the host-vehicle 12in accordance with the fused-frame 56. If the host-vehicle 12 is beingoperated in the automate-mode 14, then the controller 40 operates thevehicle-controls (e.g. steering, brakes, accelerator) to control thespeed and steerage of the host-vehicle 12 to at least avoid a collisionwith the other-vehicle depicted in FIGS. 2A-3C. Operating thehost-vehicle 12 may include consulting a digital-map to determine orhave knowledge of features of the roadway traveled by the host-vehicle12, as will be recognized by those in automated vehicle arts.

The controller 40 includes a first-input 60 configured to communicatewith the first-sensor 20 and a second-input 62 configured to communicatewith the second-sensor 62. The first-input 60 and the second-input 62may each be a wireless transceiver if wireless communications are beingused to communicate with the first-sensor 20 and a second-input 62, or adigital-interface such as a controller-area-network (CAN) transceiver ifa wired connection is being used, as will be recognized by those in theart. The first-input 60 and the second-input 62 may each be operated bythe processor 42 to control the communications with the first-sensor 20and the second-sensor 30

FIG. 4 illustrates a non-limiting example of a method 100 of operating asensor data fusion system 10 for a vehicle with multiple sensors, e.g.the first-sensor 20 and the second-sensor 30.

Step 110, RECEIVE FIRST-FRAME, may include receiving a first-frame 22 ofdata from the first-sensor 20 mounted on a host-vehicle 12. Thefirst-frame 22 of data is indicative of objects 18 present in afirst-field-of-view 36 of the first-sensor 20. The first-frame 22 ischaracterized by a first-time-stamp 24, which indicates a time that thefirst-frame 22 was rendered.

Step 120, RECEIVE SECOND-FRAME, may include receiving a second-frame 32of data from a second-sensor 30 mounted on the host-vehicle 12, saidsecond-frame of data indicative of objects 18 present in asecond-field-of-view 38 of the second-sensor 30. Thesecond-field-of-view 38 overlaps the first-field-of-view 36, saidsecond-frame characterized by a second-time-stamp temporally locatedafter the first-time-stamp 24.

Step 130, RECEIVE SUBSEQUENT-FRAME, may include receiving asubsequent-frame 26 of data from the first-sensor 20 mounted on ahost-vehicle. The subsequent-frame 26 of data is indicative of objects18 present in the first-field-of-view 36. The subsequent-frame 26 ofdata is characterized by a subsequent-time-stamp 28 that is after thefirst-time-stamp 24 and the second-time-stamp 34.

Step 140, |FIRST-TIME-STAMP−SECOND-TIME-STAMP|>TIME-THRESHOLD?, and step150, |SUBSEQUENT-TIME-STAMP−SECOND-TIME-STAMP|>TIME-THRESHOLD? areoptional steps that may force or inhibit the synthesizing aninterpolated-frame 52 to only when there is a determination that boththe first-time-stamp 24 and the subsequent-time-stamp 28 differ from thesecond-time-stamp 34 by greater than a time-threshold 58. That is, step160 (synthesizing the interpolated-frame 52) may only be performed ifthere is a substantive difference (e.g. greater that the time-threshold58) between the first-time-stamp 24 and the second-time-stamp 34, andthere is a substantive difference between the subsequent-time-stamp 28and the second-time-stamp 34.

Step 160, SYNTHESIZE INTERPOLATED-FRAME, may include synthesizing aninterpolated-frame 52 from the first-frame 22 and the subsequent-frame26. The interpolated-frame 52 is characterized by aninterpolated-time-stamp 55 that corresponds (i.e. is equal to orapproximately equal to) to the second-time-stamp 34. The techniques forinterpolating two images from a camera, or two radar-maps from aradar-unit, or two point-clouds from a lidar are known to those in thesensor processing arts.

Step 170, FUSE INTERPOLATED-FRAME AND SECOND-FRAME, may include fusingthe interpolated-frame 52 with the second-frame 32 to provide afused-frame 56 of data that is characterized by (i.e. is indicative ofan instant in time that corresponds to) the interpolated-time-stamp 54.

Step 180, OPERATE HOST-VEHICLE, may include operating thevehicle-controls (e.g. steering, brakes, accelerator) of thehost-vehicle 12 in accordance with the fused-frame 56 if/when thehost-vehicle 12 is being operated in the automated-mode 14. For example,the controller 40 may steer the host-vehicle 12 to avoid colliding withthe other-vehicle depicted in the fused-frame 56. If the host-vehicle 12is being operated in the manual-mode 16, the controller 40 may operate aspeaker within the host-vehicle 12 to warn an operator (not shown) ofthe host-vehicle 12 that the present trajectory of the host-vehicle 12may lead to a collision with the other-vehicle.

Described herein is a first device 40 that includes one or moreprocessors 42, memory 44, and one or more programs 100 stored in thememory 44, where the one or more programs 100 including instructions forperforming all or part of the method 100. Also, described herein is anon-transitory computer-readable storage-medium 44 that includes one ormore programs 100 for execution by one or more processors 42 of a firstdevice 40. The one or more programs 100 including instructions which,when executed by the one or more processors 42, cause the first device40 to perform all or part of the method 100.

Accordingly, a sensor data fusion system (the system 10), a controller40 for the system 10, and a method 100 of operating the system 10 areprovided. The system 10, the controller 40, and the method 100 overcomethe problem of fusing data from various sensors (e.g. camera, radar,lidar) when the data from those sensors is not temporally synchronized.

While this invention has been described in terms of the preferredembodiments thereof, it is not intended to be so limited, but ratheronly to the extent set forth in the claims that follow.

We claim:
 1. A sensor data fusion system for a host-vehicle withmultiple sensors, said system comprising: a camera mounted on thehost-vehicle, said camera configured to output a first-frame of cameradata and a subsequent-frame of camera data indicative of objects presentin a first-field-of-view, said first-frame of camera data characterizedby a first-time-stamp, said subsequent-frame of camera datacharacterized by a subsequent-time-stamp different from thefirst-time-stamp; a LiDAR mounted on the host-vehicle, said LiDARconfigured to output a second-frame of point-cloud data indicative ofobjects present in a second-field-of-view that overlaps thefirst-field-of-view, said second-frame of point-cloud data characterizedby a second-time-stamp temporally located between the first-time-stampand the subsequent-time-stamp; and a controller-circuit in communicationwith the camera and the LiDAR, said controller-circuit configured to:synthesize an interpolated-frame from the first-frame and thesubsequent-frame using motion flow analysis responsive to determiningthat both the first-time-stamp and the subsequent-time-stamp differ fromthe second-time-stamp by greater than a time-threshold, saidinterpolated-frame characterized by an interpolated-time-stamp thatcorresponds to the second-time-stamp, such that the interpolated-frameis temporally synchronized with the point-cloud data of thesecond-frame; fuse the interpolated-frame with the second-frame toprovide a fused-frame of data characterized by theinterpolated-time-stamp; determine a three-dimensional model of anenvironment surrounding the host-vehicle based on the fused-frame; andoperate the host-vehicle in accordance with the three-dimensional modelof the environment.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the objectspresent in the first-field-of-view are in a travel path of thehost-vehicle.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the objects present inthe second-field-of-view are in a travel path of the host-vehicle. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the controller-circuit is furtherconfigured to: synthesize the interpolated-frame from the first-frameresponsive to determining that the first-time-stamp and thesubsequent-time-stamp differ from the second-time-stamp by less thanfive milliseconds, wherein the interpolated-frame is the same as thefirst-frame.
 5. A controller-circuit for a sensor data fusion system fora host-vehicle with multiple sensors, said controller-circuitcomprising: a first-input configured to communicate with a cameramounted on the host-vehicle, said camera configured to output afirst-frame of camera data and a subsequent-frame of camera dataindicative of objects present in a first-field-of-view, said first-frameof camera data characterized by a first-time-stamp, saidsubsequent-frame of camera data characterized by a subsequent-time-stampdifferent from the first-time-stamp; a second-input configured tocommunicate with a LiDAR mounted on the host-vehicle, said LiDARconfigured to output a second-frame of point-cloud data indicative ofobjects present in a second-field-of-view that overlaps thefirst-field-of-view, said second-frame of point-cloud data characterizedby a second-time-stamp temporally located between the first-time-stampand the subsequent-time-stamp; and a processor in communication with thecamera and the LiDAR, said processor configured to: synthesize aninterpolated-frame from the first-frame and the subsequent-frame usingmotion flow analysis responsive to determining that the both thefirst-time-stamp and the subsequent-time-stamp differ from thesecond-time-stamp by greater than a time-threshold, saidinterpolated-frame characterized by an interpolated-time-stamp thatcorresponds to the second-time-stamp, such that the interpolated-frameis temporally synchronized with the point-cloud of the second-frame;fuse the interpolated-frame with the second-frame to provide afused-frame of data characterized by the interpolated-time-stamp,determine a three-dimensional model of an environment surrounding thehost-vehicle based on the fused-frame; and operate the host-vehicle inaccordance with the three-dimensional model of the environment.
 6. Thecontroller-circuit of claim 5, wherein the objects present in thefirst-field-of-view are in a travel path of the host-vehicle.
 7. Thecontroller-circuit of claim 5, wherein the objects present in thesecond-field-of-view are in a travel path of the host-vehicle.
 8. Thecontroller-circuit of claim 5, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: synthesize the interpolated-frame from the first-frameresponsive to determining that the first-time-stamp and thesubsequent-time-stamp differ from the second-time-stamp by less thanfive milliseconds, wherein the interpolated-frame is the same as thefirst-frame.
 9. A method of operating a sensor data fusion system for ahost-vehicle with multiple sensors, said method comprising: receiving afirst-frame of camera data and a subsequent-frame of camera data from acamera mounted on the host-vehicle, said first-frame of camera data andsaid subsequent-frame of camera data indicative of objects present in afirst-field-of-view, said first-frame of camera data characterized by afirst-time-stamp, said subsequent-frame of camera data characterized bya subsequent-time-stamp different from the first-time-stamp; receiving asecond-frame of LiDAR data from a LiDAR mounted on the host-vehicle,said second-frame of LiDAR data indicative of objects present in asecond-field-of-view that overlaps the first-field-of-view, saidsecond-frame of LiDAR data characterized by a second-time-stamptemporally located between the first-time-stamp and thesubsequent-time-stamp; synthesizing an interpolated-frame from thefirst-frame and the subsequent-frame using motion flow analysisresponsive to determining that both the first-time-stamp and thesubsequent-time-stamp differ from the second-time-stamp by greater thana time-threshold, said interpolated-frame characterized by aninterpolated-time-stamp that corresponds to the second-time-stamp, suchthat the interpolated-frame is temporally synchronized with the LiDARdata of the second-frame; fusing the interpolated-frame with thesecond-frame to provide a fused-frame of data characterized by theinterpolated-time-stamp; determining a three-dimensional model of anenvironment based on the fused-frame; and operating the host-vehicle inaccordance with the three-dimensional model of the environment.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the objects present in thefirst-field-of-view are in a travel path of the host-vehicle.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the objects present in thesecond-field-of-view are in a travel path of the host-vehicle.
 12. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: synthesizing theinterpolated-frame from the first-frame responsive to determining thatthe first-time-stamp and the subsequent-time-stamp differ from thesecond-time-stamp by less than five milliseconds, wherein theinterpolated-frame is the same as the first-frame.
 13. A sensor datafusion system for a host-vehicle with multiple sensors, said systemcomprising: a LiDAR mounted on the host-vehicle, said LiDAR configuredto output a first-frame of point-cloud data and a subsequent-frame ofpoint cloud data indicative of objects present in a first-field-of-view,said first-frame of point cloud data characterized by afirst-time-stamp, said subsequent-frame of point-cloud datacharacterized by a subsequent-time-stamp different from thefirst-time-stamp; a camera mounted on the host-vehicle, saidcameraconfigured to output a second-frame of camera data indicative ofobjects present in a second-field-of-view that overlaps thefirst-field-of-view, said second-frame of camera data characterized by asecond-time-stamp temporally located between the first-time-stamp andthe subsequent-time-stamp; and a controller-circuit in communicationwith the LiDAR and the camera, said controller-circuit configured to:synthesize an interpolated-frame from the first-frame and thesubsequent-frame using motion flow analysis responsive to determiningthat both the first-time-stamp and the subsequent-time-stamp differ fromthe second-time-stamp by greater than a time-threshold, saidinterpolated-frame characterized by an interpolated-time-stamp thatcorresponds to the second-time-stamp, such that the interpolated-frameis temporally synchronized with the camera data of the second-frame;fuse the interpolated-frame with the second-frame to provide afused-frame of data characterized by the interpolated-time-stamp;determine a three-dimensional model of an environment surrounding thehost-vehicle based on the fused-frame; and operate the host-vehicle inaccordance with the three-dimensional model of the environment.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the objects present in thefirst-field-of-view are in a travel path of the host-vehicle.
 15. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the objects present in thesecond-field-of-view are in a travel path of the host-vehicle.
 16. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the controller-circuit is further configuredto: synthesize the interpolated-frame from the first-frame responsive todetermining that the first-time-stamp and the subsequent-time-stampdiffer from the second-time-stamp by less than five milliseconds,wherein the interpolated-frame is the same as the first-frame.